Sparkles and Sunshine
by morganb91
Summary: They said being a new mom would be hard. You'd be exhausted. At your wits end. Wanting to cry. They have all these manuals on how to take care of your baby. How do you take care of your baby when it's half vampire half human? If it eats blood, surely it's going to excrete it? Damn my husband and his eco-friendly ideas.


A/N: This is just a little drabble piece to pass my morning. I wrote this after hanging my daughter's diapers outside. They had some stains and with it being the last fleeting days of warmth in September, what better than to hang them to dry? I'm Twilight obsessed. Sigh.

_They said being a new mom would be hard. You'd be exhausted. At your wits end. Wanting to cry. They have all these manuals on how to take care of your baby. How do you take care of your baby when it's half vampire half human? If it eats blood, surely it's going to excrete it? Damn my husband and his eco-friendly ideas._

Bella

My eyes scanned over the screen in front of me and I let out a growl. The burning in my throat that I had become accustomed to over the past two weeks was slowly eating away at me. Deer wasn't cutting it for me and I knew what I wanted. I couldn't have it though. At least, I wouldn't be able to live with the thought that I'd killed someone. I figured I could always follow my husband's route of killing murders, rapists, and molesters, but eventually, I'd live with the regret of taking a life.

Rosalie was sitting with Renesme, cuddling her and cooing. She loved our daughter so much. She had been giddy with excitement when I'd asked her help in protecting my baby when Edward wanted it gone after he'd found out I'd become pregnant in Brazil. She and Esme were my only champions for the cause. Well, Esme only supported my decision. She was much on Carlisle's side of letting me decide.

Now, Renesme was the jewel to the Cullen clan. She slept in our arms and drank from Carlisle's stash of human blood he had been importing. They don't ask questions in China apparently.

I grumbled once more and clenched my fists. I'm sure that the FBI would be knocking on my door any moment. Afterall, when you're googling how to remove blood from clothing multiple times, I'm sure it throws up a red flag somewhere. Swarms of black SUV's swarming the Cullen compound would be humorous, I'm sure. Leave it to my beautiful husband to want us to be as eco friendly as possible with our baby. He'd been adamant on using cloth diapers. Apparently while my transformation was under way, he was doing what most new dad's did. Freaking the hell out. He wanted only the best for our baby girl. Apparently, disposable diapers were made from harsh chemicals that could be harsh against baby's skin. Not to mention the factor that they were made from plastic and kept heat against a baby's skin, providing a breeding ground for yeast infections. Esme tried reasoning with him that a baby that was half human half vampire didn't necessarily respond to materials the same way a full human baby would, but there was no talking Edward down. Edward had become confounded though after two wash cycle's as to why the blood stains wouldn't come out of the diapers. Apparently, he figured Renesme with all her blood eating would surely be like a normal baby and excrete regular, solid poop. Oh, my husband. He was a genius in many ways. A logical father? Not so much.

He'd found it humorous however when I almost killed Jacob when I found out he'd imprinted upon our baby. Nessie? The Lochness Monster? I'd had to reign myself in for a few days after I almost skinned him alive. Edward was thrilled that his baby girl would have a protector. Someone to eternally look after her. I however found it not so amusing. She was just a baby. The anger that surged through me was nothing I'd ever felt as a human. Being a vampire had become tedious in some ways. All of my senses were heightened. I felt like I could conquer the world and at the same time, the world had conquered me. I was a mess of emotions. Carlisle and Edward said these were all normal. I'd wanted this. I wanted to be with Edward eternally. And now, I'd be with our beautiful daughter as well.

Renesme was growing quite fast. Faster than a human child. She was the size and cognition of a four month old after having only been born two weeks ago. She was trying to crawl and it was the cutest thing. After exhausting herself, she'd nap in Rosalie's or Emmett's arms. They would've been lovely parents. Emmett adored her as much as Rosalie. Rosalie had been contemplating going to college once more and becoming a NICU nurse. She loved babies. She'd wanted to have so many when she was human. It was a shame. She would've been a glorious mother. Carlisle had smiled at her and told her if she wished it, he would recommend her. After being a vampire for nearly half a century, she felt more comfortable being around humans on a constant. She had never endeavored a career before because of her anger towards humans. It still hadn't faded, but she was slowly coming around. I was proud of her. She would make an amazing nurse.

"Edward, we could always use disposables," I whispered when I felt him hovering over my shoulder. He gave me a crooked smile and shook his head.

"I'd like to leave as little impact on the environment as possible. It's all ready terrible I'm taking the lives of animals...at least with them, they're recycled back in to the Earth. And enrich the soil-"

"Ok, I get it," I sighed and clicked once more on a link. "Can't we just order new diapers?"

"That defeats the purpose of eco friendly." He shook his head and kissed my temple tenderly. Oh, my beautiful husband with his bronze locks and simmering gold eyes.

"Well, doesn't putting contaminated water back into the environment defeat it as well?" I huffed. He let out a chuckle and smoothed my hair back.

He shook his head. "No, because the water doesn't have any detergent that is harmful. The water goes into the garden and nourishes the plants. The waste in the water is a fertilizer. And then, once the garden is grown enough, we can donate the food to the homeless shelter. See?"

His theory wasn't completely insane. Next year when the Cullen's planted in the garden, the soil would indeed be rich and nourished for the incoming crops. My husband had a good heart. The only problem? The blood stains in the diapers. Carlisle couldn't quite wrap his head around how to get the stains out and Esme had been confounded as well. And, Esme usually knew how to get rid of everything. Except blood. Blood was a terrible stainer. She had forbid anyone from hunting in anything delicate or white.

"What about oxy clean? You know, with the Australian guy waving his hands around? He says blood stains come out with that," Emmett had come up beside me and leaned his weight gently on the desk. There was an indent on the wood where I had leaned a few days ago, my strength having been forgotten.

"It's not 'organic'," I used my finger quotations and shook my head. Edward chuckled and kissed my hair.

"I'm sure there's something." Edward whispered. I shook my head and continued my browsing. The sun was coming through the windows and it set a glorious array of rainbow coloration against the walls. It looked like a disco club in the living room. I smiled and admired the rays before turning back to the laptop.

'How to Solar Bleach Cloth Diapers (8 pictures)' came into view. I looked around the room and clicked on the link. This particular link may have found my solution.

"Edward?" I asked and he was at my side. "Did you finish the rinse cycle?"

He furrowed his brows and nodded his head. "Yes. Why? We're not rewashing with bleach." He shook his head and I rolled my eyes.

"This is a 'chemical/bleach free' alternative..." I scanned over the article. "It says to hang them to dry outside and let the sun do the trick. It's completely safe. The sun is a fantastic bleacher and sanitizer. Look, you get a two in one deal. Why hadn't we thought of this? Or come across it?" I asked and went towards the newly installed laundry room.

"Because we sparkle in the sun. Remember? Rosalie had said we didn't have enough sun around to consider it," Emmett smiled as Edward pulled the wet diapers out of the washer.

"Yes, well, it's a good option. We'll see how it does and if it works, I will personally donate to the person who thought of it," Edward smiled and carried the basket outside. Emmett frowned as he crossed his arms.

"What are we supposed to hang them on?" He asked and looked around. "Eco friendly here hadn't thought to hang a line, not that it would've mattered. It's too damn wet in this area to ever expect anything to dry."

Edward smiled and looked up. He pointed his hands towards the tree line and chuckled.

"You're going to hang your daughter's diapers from the trees?" I raised my brow and shook my head.

"Why not?" He shrugged. "There's enough branches up there and the sunlight is optimal. I'll just need some pins..." He glanced around.

"Esme had some in her craft room...I'm not quite sure..." Edward had disappeared into the house at Emmett's comment. Emmett look down at me with a worried expression. "I don't think Esme will appreciate him using her clothes pins that she was going to use to make santa claus' puppet's for the kids at the hospital. She'll be pissed."

I laughed and smiled when Edward reemerged from the house. "I'm sure she'll forgive him."

Emmett shook his head as Edward looked over at us. "Are you coming?" He smiled and leapt into the trees. I sighed and looked over towards Emmett.

"After you," Emmett held his hand up and I shook my head, pouncing into the trees and following my husband. I found Edward gracefully perched against the tree top, his hands pinning the cloth to the tree limbs.

"This had better work. I'm sure I look like a lunatic." Edward muttered. Emmett let out a snort.

"No one said a word," I smiled. The sun peeked slowly from behind the clouds and an array of glitter erupted around us. If I had been human, my eyes would have been blinded.

"At least we look fabulous while looking crazy," Emmett bellowed from a few trees over. He had successfully pinned the diapers Edward had given him to the tree branches. He looked triumphant as he leaped over to us.

"We always look fabulous," I smiled at Emmett as Edward secured the last diaper to the branch.

"That we do," Edward said and grasped me across the waist. He glided us down to the ground. Emmett landed with a thud behind us. I looked up at the trees above us.

"How long do we wait?" Emmett asked.

"I guess until they're dry?" I shrugged.

"Did it say how long?" Edward asked as we walked towards the house. I shrugged.

"I don't know. In Arizona, when my mom hung clothes out, it took about four hours to dry. There is a lot of heat there, though. Things dry a lot faster. With the atmosphere being mostly wet here, I don't know. We could check periodically?" Edward nodded his head and sat us down on the couch. His arm draped around me. We smiled and looked on to Rosalie who cradled Renesme in her arms.

"She's beautiful, just like her mother," Edward whispered to me. I grinned and looked over at him.

"I love you," I gave him a soft kiss. He nuzzled my nose and grinned.

"I love you."

It took seven hours for Edward's cloth diapers to dry. And, they were as white as they we received them in the mail.


End file.
